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reference to the greattity of phosphates...
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THE QHAMBERS' PHILOSOPHY REFUTED. LABOUR...
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mgncultttve anu ^Horticulture
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The Rotation ov Crops.—All crops exhaust...
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-^—^m mxaaKam. Ma<uj Stieuce anu art
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, Institute or the Fine Arts.—On Saturda...
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Reference To The Greattity Of Phosphates...
Januar y 4 , 1845 . / - THE NORTHERN STAR , b iii J ^> J
The Qhambers' Philosophy Refuted. Labour...
THE QHAMBERS' PHILOSOPHY REFUTED . LABOUR PLEADING ITS OWN CAU 3 E . THE EMPLOYER A 5 D EMPLOYED . a TjaauAB , dialogue . —part iv . Dialogu e betfcaen Smith and Jackson resumed at " Shoddy Hall , " by special detire of Mr . Smith . — Jackson is announced and shewn into Mr . Smith ' s study , at cue end- of which is suspended a map of Shoddy Hall , the property of J . Howard Percy Smith , £ « ., 'laid , ' over the chimney-piece at the other end , tho v-riitonal'bearings of the Smiths , with a pedi gree mwamectk , proving their descent from Betted Will Hoivard in -the maleand Ann Percy sixth
cou-, , sin to thc > secs . nd Duke of Northumberland , «» the female line . . . Smith . —pave you wiped your shoes , Jackson ? Jackson . —Tcs , sir , I have wi p ed them . Smith . —Oi that's rig ht . This is a Turkey carpet ; it cost me eighty guineas , and the least footmark discoloarsit . ' " ¦ Jackson ( aside , with a tighj . —i ) , my £ 5001 SmiihJ—yiuK , Jackson , sit down , and let ns hear what y «! L-ive to say upon the subject of machinery , for i' j : *¦ ' ! you the tratlC that old Robin has awakened sue : * , curious thoughts in my head , that I am staggered like upon the subject . He ' s an astonishing man for his age , that old Robin .
Jackson . —He is so , sir . But I am told he spoke like a lad at the meeting last night . Smith . —Aye , by the bye , about the meeting ; what was done there ? Any resolution ? Jackson . —Yea , sir . Your cousin , Mr . Smith , the grocer—Smith . —Pooh , pooh , that's all a mistake ; he ' s no cousin of mine , Jackson—he ' s merely of the name , and there arc so many Smiths ; but very few from the old stock ofthe Howards and Percys . Jackson . —0 , 1 beg your pardon , sir . Smith , the grocer , then , moved a resolution in favour of free trade , as the only means of averting the impending and existmj'jflktress ofthe country . SmitL—Well , and was it carried ?
Jackson . —No , sir ; Samuel Bowyers , a shoemaker , moved an amendment . I have a copy of it here ; I'll read it for yon : — " Resolved , that we , the working classes and shopkeepers ofthe borough of Devil ' s Dust , in public meeting assembled , having long suffered the most galling privations , whilst all other classes are daily accumulating wealth from our industry ,, for which they find it difficult to procure an outlet , and believing the unrestricted use of machinery , asa substitute for manual labour , to have mainly led to this unjust inequality , whereby the employer becomes rich , as if by magic , in spite of opposing obstacles , whether they arise from natural or artificial causes—from bad harvests or fluctuations in trade , from ascarcity or an abundance of circulating medium in the country—while the condition of the employed becomes correspondingly deteriorated , good trade ,
plentiful harvests , and a surplus of the circulating medium having a tendency to increase rather than to diminish their poverty ; and that in order to correct this unnatural state of things , this meeting is determined never to relax in its exertions until the people ' s Charter becomes the law , whereby the land of this country may , by a proper , just , and equitable distribution , be made subservient to the wants of society at large , instead of seeing it barren and unproductive , while those labourers who could make it rich and fertile are desired to look to other countries for a sufficiency of food , or to emigrate to foreign climes in search of the means of existence , which they are denied in the land of their birth . " Smith . —Good God , Jackson , who seconded that ? Jackson . —Mr . Sparerib , the butcher , sir . Smith . —And was it carried ?
Jackson . —Yes , sir . Old Robin tells me that only five hands , in a crowded Hall , were held up against it . Smith . —Well , but Jackson , what do they mean by the distribution of land ? Do they mean to take it themselves , and pay no rent for it ? Jackson . —No , sir , theymeannosuchthing . What they mean is , that ^ having lost all controul over the labour market in its present artificial state , they are determined to have recourse to a more just system , whereby those who are displaced by machinery shall cease to be a competitive reserve for the masters to fall back upon , as a means of keeping down wages to the mere existence point . Smith . —Well , but do you mean to say that all the machinery in the country is to be destroyed , or allowed to remain idle ?
Jackson . —No , sir , I do not : but I mean that those who are not able to withstand that competitive system amongst the masters , in obedience to which you have before told me they must look to reduced wages to make up profit , and keep themselves safe even in bad times , may have some octter channel open for their industry than that of " cracking" stones and pulling oakum , in a prison dress , and under the eye of a hard-hearted gaoler ! Smith . —Well but , Jackson , what will become of the trade ofthe country ? Where would the masters get hands ? Jackson . —In abundance , sir ; but they should hire them in the cottage or the homestead , instead of in tiie cellar or the bastile . The people are beginning to think , sir , that the man gets a better price for his pig if the butcher comes to the stye to look after him than if he takes the pig to the butcher to buy him , because he is necessitated to sell it . Smith . —Well but now , Jackson , what has all this
to do with the question of machinery ? I am not so dogged in my own pre-conceived notions as not to be accessible toreason ; neither have I been an inattentive listener in our previous discussions upon the subject ; and if you have anything really to urge against machinerj ' , and your reasoiung is sound , I shall unhesitatingly confessmy conversion . Jackson . —Sir , independently of what Robin has already said upon the general topic , and apart from what I may yet say , you yoiuself have , though perhaps unconsciously , urged so many weighty arguments against it , that I think I shall only be called upon to furnish you with an analysis of your own reasoning to bring you to a different conclusion . South . —What have I urged against machinery ? Why I have been all along pleading for machinery , and ar guing that the causes of its unjust unpopularity arise from the " improvidence , " " dissipation , " and " viciousness" of the working classes themselves .
. Jackson . —That ' s just the point , sir , and I am happy to have the admission ; and I undertake to prove that what you call causes are effects;—that is , that machinery is the cause , and "improvidence , " "dissipation , " " vice , " and "immorality" are the effects . Smith . —Jackson , let me repeat what I have previously said , and which I think embodies my opinions upon the general question ; what I said was this : — The thing which governs them is the general supply of hands—the supply according to the demand . There is a certain quantity of work to he done here and elsewhere , and a certain quantity of hands to do it . If there he much work , and comparatively few hands , wages will rise ; if little work , and an excess of hands , wages will
fall . Without any mutual arrangement , the manufacturer * come to a uniformity of wages . Indeed , it is not the masters , hut the labourers , who settle the rate of ¦ wages .. They settle it tiir competing against each other . In the same way that manufacturers compete against one another , so do the labouring classes compete against one another . AU find it necessary to work , in order to live ; and to get work , they accept of what wages ara to he had . If they , however , hear that higher wages are going elsewhere , they carry their labour thither . They there compete with those who are already settled , and perhaps bring down wages to a lower level . Thus , with ' out any mutual understanding among cither masters or men , but just by a universal competition , wages get settled down at particular rates . Jackson . — -Very well , sir , I understand you
perfectly . Tour proposition involves three distinct considerations ; namely , the governing power that you ascribe to machinery ; the means of correcting the evil effects that yon admit ; and the result which must naturally flow from that correction . You must admit , sir , that when the population of a whole country becomes deficient in those moral excellencies which all nation * , under good laws and fostering government ,, are capable of attaining , and when immo rality becomes the rule , instead ofthe exception , of the national character ( for you have been unreserved and sweeping in your strictures upon the working classes ) , -I say in such case you must admit that there is a deep-seated evil resting somewhere ; an evil which has originated with machinery , grown with its growth , and strengthened with its strength . - Smith . —Well but , Jackson , this is all assertion .
Jackson . —It may be so , sir , but it is assertion founded upon your own admissions , and , as I shall prove , nponanincontrovertible basis . When you admit that masters' profits , and their protection against fluctuations in trade , are made up by reductions in wages , and when machinery alone enables them to take this undue advantage of their hands , what other conclusion can be come to , than that the working classes should consider this governing power as their greatest enemy ? And what more legitimate than that they should seek , bv combination or otherwise , to destroy its effects ; and what more natural than to seek another channel for their industry , over which the same anomalous power can have no controul ? '
Smith .--Jackson , I tell yon that in the present depraved ' state of the working classes no controul or power can emanate from their body that must not nave a prejudicial effect upon their order . __ Jackson . —Mr . Smith , men are born with propensities , which may be nourished into virtues or thwarted into vices , according to the training in infancy , the education in childhood , and the treatment practised towards them in manhood . Smith . —Well but , Jackson , that ' s the very thing that I complain of . Look at children now-a-days . The mother doesn't care for them . The father neglects-them . They are wholly uneducated , and the gin palace , the brothel , or the workhouse is their first introduction to society . Jackson . —I thank you for saying " now-a-days , " because I am arguing that the governing powers , machinery the principalis— "now-a 5 lays" the cause of the social evils , And the fact that it was not so in .
The Qhambers' Philosophy Refuted. Labour...
England in olden times , when parentahad the bringing up and controul of their families , is proof that some new agency has wroug ht the change . And now , sir , let me state my principal objections to the unrestricted use of machinery . . First , it places man in an artificial state , over which the best workman the wisest man and most moral person , has no controul Secondly wMle it leads to the alines certain fortune ot those who have capital in sufficient amount to command those profits made ho , as yon admit , bv the reduction of wages ; upon the other hand , it leads to uncertainty in the condition of the employed , against which he is incapable of contending . Thirdl y , it disarranges all the social machinery of which formerly individuals were necessary itemsfamilies honoured branches , and small rural
, districts important sections of the one great whole Fourthly , the present flu ctuations give rise , in good trade , to an augmentation of artificial classes , if 1 may so call them , who have no natural position in society , but are merely called into _ existence by present appearances ; trade upon nothing , traffic in fiction , and , like your order , speculate on what they mav retire upon when trade begins to flag . Hence we find each fluctuation in trade followed by a new race of shopkeepers , who arc grasping in prosperity , compound when appearances change , and retire when adversity comes , leaving a vacuum to be filled up by the next alternation from panic to speculation .
Smith . —Well but , Jackson , surely you wouldn't put restraint upon any branch of commerce ? Jackson . —Yes , Mr . Smith , I certainly would impose some restraint upon that branch of commerce which enables masters to make up their losses in other speculations by a reduction of wages ; and 1 would also apply some wholesome regulations to those speculations which depri ve the infant ofthe mother's fostering care , and the child of proper education , by depriving the parents ofthe power of conferring both the one and the other . Smith . —Well , Jackson , how does machinery deprive you of that power ?
Jackson . —I'll tell you , sir . I have been working for you for fifteen years , and during that period I have been one-sixth of the whole time , or two years and a half , out of employment ; while I have been compelled to submit to reduction after reduction , or to merge into the idle reserve . If there was a bad market or two in Devil ' s Dust , Squint , your overlooker , would come to us on Saturday night , and tell us how the mill must close , if we didn't consent to this reduction , and that reduction , and the other reduction . Sometimes it would be three per cent ., sometimes four per cent ., sometimes five per cent ., and so on , till in ' 42 there was twelve per cent . These reductions would be always made upon the very first appearance of slackness , and then , when the India market and the China market were opened , and home trade
became brisk , and we asked for an advance , we were told that since the first reduction the masters ' had been losing , and thatwc were , only employed upon charity , and that losses for bad years must be pulled up out of the improvement . Well , we thought that even if our produce was warehoused , that our losses and reductions should be made up as well as those of the masters ; and when wc met Mr . Squint upon the subject , he told us that we might go to the devil , for Smith and Co . had got good men that wouldn't be always grumbling to do the work of a score ; that the machinery was all " double-decked , " and that spindle after spindle was to be worked by " mules , "
and that the strong man that could do the'work of two , with a boy to help him , would only be required to manage each , and that they would have to pay for the boy . Well , what could we do ? We had families , and couldn't let . them starve ; and so we were obliged to work on at any price that was offered ; and we-were too poor to support the surplus created by machinery , and so , as you observe ; they became a competitive power ; and when the good trade came again , there was the machinery already to work , with the least possible attendance , and then , when there would have been otherwise work for all to supply the temporary demand , machinery competed against us .
Smith . —Well but , Jackson , I assure you , upon my word 'and honour , conscientiously , and as a country gentleman , that for some years previous to ' 42 the masters were losing . Jackson . —Mr . Smith , I don't wish to contradict you , but I beg leave to differ with you upon the meaning of the term . If by losing , you mean that you couldn't calculate your profit so nicely after every market-day , I may agree with you ; but taking them in the lump , I think present appearances fully justify me in coming to the conclusion that yon have taken pretty good care of yourselves , and that you so managed matters as , upon the balance of the whole account , not to be losers . Smith . —Well but , Jackson , you must not argue the ease from my position as an individual .
Jackson . —No , sir , I wont . I will argue it from the general condition of the master-class , and then what do I find ? Why , that immediately after confidence is restored , and trade becomes good , the masters are enabled to abstract nearly two hundred millions of money from trade—mind , from trade , Mr . Smith—still preserving stock and capital ; and to invest that sum in railroads , building , mining , purchase of land , and all sorts of other speculations . Smith . —0 but , Jackson , you are in error ! The masters alone have not been the parties who invested that amount in speculations . All other classes have had a share in them . ¦ Jackson . —Pardon me , Mr . Smith , the labouring class that created all , have had no share in them ; so that you see your bad markets led to reductions against which we couldn't contend , and improved machinery compelled us to submit to a continuance of those reductions when trade revived .
Smith . —Well , Jackson , I confess there s much sound reason in your arguments . I have known very many large masters whose dissipation and expensive families I thought must ruin them , and yet , wonderful to say , they have become rich . Yes , indeed , I am sure I have been " often shocked when business has driven me to meet a customer at any ofthe hotels , to see the bar-parlour at all hours of the day and night filled with masters smoking cigars , and drinking glass after glass of brandy and water ; and as to Manchester , the dissipation there is beyond all conception . Jackson . —Well , Mr . Smith , you see , then , that dissipation is not confined to the working classes , and that the dissipation of the masters neither reduces them to starvation nor prevents them from educating
and providing for their families . So , sir , you must ' naturally suppose that some portion of the working classes would , if able ; discharge their duties to their families . And just see how machinery precludes the possibility of it . You have said , sir , that women ought to be instructed in domestic pursuits . Indeed I think I can repeat your ' words ; they were very forcible , you said- — Along with this species of instruction , it would be of the utmost importance to teach females many useful arts ; in particular those which bear on domestic economycookery , cleanliness , needlework , and the rearing of children . To bring up children with good habits is in itself a matter demanding the most careful attention of parents .
Now , sir , I fully agree with those sentiments ; but give me leave to ask you how , under the present system , women can discharge those domestic functions ? How can they possibly devote their whole day to unnatural toil in a cotton mill , and discharge their family duties ? Smith . —Jackson , that ' s wrong—it ' s very wrong . That ' s a thing that shouldn't be allowed . Jackson . —No . sir , it should not be allowed ; but then if you admit the value in after-life of early trainin" under the mother ' s watehfuleye , and if you deprive the rising offspring of that salutary protection , can you expect any other result than those abominations of which you complain , and which I deeply deplore ? And is it not machinery that drives man from the labour market ,, and enables the master to substitute the more pliant female , when she shoidd be
attending to those domestic pursuits ? Is that , then , not a cause of dissipation , and is it not an effect also of machinery ? Nay more , sir , you have condemned early marriages , but what can be more likely to lead to them than displacing man from his natural position and placing woman in his situation ? If young men maybe brought to philosophise upon the evils oi early marriage , as you would wish them , you cannot bring young females , with hot blood in their veins , to calculate so nicely . Andbcing made valuable in the market , may it not happen that their wage , rather than their affections , is the thing courted by the young man who has become a reluctant idler ? Smith . —Upon niy word , Jackson , you astonish me ! Do you know that I never gave those important subjects a thought before . .
Jackson . —Well , sir , hence I shew you the impossibility of the mother discharging those duties required at her hands ; and then see the injustice , nay , the palpable indecency of compelling old and young , male and female , robust and weakly , to rise at the same hour , eat at the same , hour , work nearly the same hours , aud only the same hours allowed to all for rest . Now , sir , I am not an improvident man . No man ever saw me drunk . I was never absent when I could get a day ' s work . My wife worked in Grub ' s mill , and was obliged to pay a kind of step-nurse to take care ofthe children while she was at work , and I have never been able to keep her at home—never been able to spare wherewith to givemy children any education . Just as I often hoped to do a little for them , we have been obliged to try and live when we were idle , until
we got employment again . And then , sir , nearly every working man in England lives from hand to mouth , and are thereby compelled to accept any terms that the masters choose to offer , and as you see the working classes are not now able to stand one week unemployed ; and yet you wonder that hungry men , who are able and willing to work , should prefer looking for some general remedy for all those grievances , to starving tamely while all above them have more than they know what to do with . Smith . —Well certainly it is a most deplorable situation for the working classes to be in , but why not look for free trade as a remedy , and open the markets ofthe world to British industry ? Just see what an impetus the free exportation of machinery has given to the mechanics' trade ? And why not give all other manufactures an equal chance ?
The Qhambers' Philosophy Refuted. Labour...
Jackson . —Free trade is moonshine ! Mr . Smith . Openall the porta to-morrow , and by that day twelvemonth machinery will have closed them , and have blocked up every available avenue . > Tkofree exportation of machinery , is but burning the candle at both ends . The law which allows free exportation of machinery is but young , and yet so great have been the improvements in ; manufacturing machinery by machinery , that the working mechanics are . deprived p those advantages wliich would have otherwise flowed from the traffic ; i , And you must also bear . in mind , sir . that the extension of that trade is , day after day ,
limiting the great advantages which British lnanuiacr turers anticipate from free , trade .. ; Surely , sir , you cannot be ignorant of the progress that all the nations ofthe earth arc making in the art , and England can-, not suppose that those foreign capitalists will tamely submit to be ruined by cheap English produce . . .. You must know full well , that the same influences produced here by a class , will be put in operation by the same classes in other countries , and further , that tne influence of that class : must be always ; greater in countries where land is cheap than where , land is dear ?
Smith . —Then , Jackson , yon don't advocate a repeal ofthe Corn Laws ? And do you know , that since I have had time to consider the subject , my opinions upon that head have undergone great alteration . What will be the effect of a repeal of the Corn Laws upon the land at home , Jackson ? . # . Jackson . —Why , sir , a general stagnation of all pursuits . The landlords wouldn't reduce rents until it was too late . The farmers wouldn't employ labourers ; and , as a matter of course , the agricultural labourers would all flock-to the manufacturing market . . There would be a general scramble , and I think that , instead of shooting one another or killing one another , the working classes , operatives , and agriculturists . would level every mill in the country , and demand the land as the readiest means of subsistence . Smith . —Good God , Jackson , is that really your ¦
opinion ? ¦¦ '" . '' . "¦ '' Jackson . —It is , sir , my confirmed opinion ; tor talk as you mav , and reason as : you will , you . never can drive the belief out of the heads of the . people , . that that which does their work , while they are starving , isthcir greatest enemy ; and' you'll mark my words , sir , that before two years pass . over your head , Sir Robert Fed will be compelled to tell :: the ^ fundholders that they must compound , because machinery consumes nothing , while he cannot : reach the profits made of it by the few . . ¦ ' :. ! Smith . —Well , Jackson , I hope if that . time ever docs come , that the working classes will be for-: bearing , for certainly they have suffered great hardships . ' , ¦ ¦¦¦ " , ... - Jackson . —Yes , sir , I'll warrant they'll never kill or shoot each other when that time comes . ¦ •¦¦ < Smith . —You see how necessary education would be ,
then , Jackson . ; ,,, '• . Jackson . —Yes , sir , and while you talk ofthe want of it , and dep lore the existence of . immorality ,: isn tit shocking to contemp late that the English Church establishment , whose principal dut y it is to inculcate morality and diffuse education , should receive annually the sum of £ 9 , 450 , 565 , while tho people are taunted with ignorance and immorality . It is not . wonderful , sir , that the English people should be ignorant when their education costs annually less than the support and education of the Queen ' s horses ! - Smith . —Jackson , I will once more repeat tor you what I consider to be the main causes of distress .
I will speak candidly . I acknowledge ; with great pain , there is a considerable amount of destitution demanding compassion and alleviation . ' By a concurrence of causes , general and particular , large numbers of' the Labouring population have got into a condition of considerable embarrassment and suffering—from waiitof education , abandonment to-bad habits , ' and loss -Of selfrespect , perhaps natural incapacity to compete with more skilful neighbours , also by fluctuations constantly increasing the mass of destitution in'our large towns . The misfortunes and imprudences of the higher order of
workmen ' and the mercantile classes , also cause much destitution , and' swell the numbers of the unemployed It is very miich owing to the offers of this unemployed and half-famishing body of individuals that wages are kept down or reduced . "On the principle of "better half a loaf than ho bread , " ' they wfll gladly take something below the current rate of payment .= Hence the vast crowds of poor needle-women who offer to make shirts at three-halfpence each , of lads clamouring to he employed as apprentices ' , of wandering paupers who are glad to work for the barest means of subsistence . You Bce ' that
it is the unemployed who determine ihe rate of wages . Whether these unemployed be men dismissed' in consequence of a slackness of trade , or be new hands , the same result follows . '•"'•' ¦ ¦¦ . ' -. .. Jackson . —Now ,. Mr . Smith , ' , you have furnished me with a long list of those causes which you admit lead to destitution , and can , you point out one single one that is not of an artificial nature , and created by an artificial system ? You would enforce them as charges against the working classes , and denominate them causes ; ' while I contend that they are grievances which they cannot resist , and are consequences of causes over which they have no controul at present . But , sir , as you have admitted that a dependent surplus , created either . by bad trade or improved machinery , is the great power in the hands
of the masters , and the greatest enemy of labour , I ask you , sir , in fairness and reason , according to the laws of nature , and rules that govern human transactions , even according to those self-protecting regulations by which the masters make . themselves safe against all contingencies , is it not reasonable that the working classes should devote their , undivided attention to the means by which this surplus may bo so provided for as to be taken out of tho hands of the masters . ?" Smith . —Well , Jackson , perhaps I may admit that , but then two questions arise ^ -first , ! as to how the evil is to be met ; and , secondly , if correction is practicable , by whom is it . to be administered ? for you know the old saying" Better keep the Uls we have , . .
Than fly to those we know not of . . Jackson . —True , sir , but can you paint a hell blacker than the present , even as depicted by yourself ; for you speak of men , whole classes indeed , receiving from £ 3 to £ 3 10 s . a week , being dissipated and wholly abandoned to vice ; indeed your words are- ^ - So common ^ indeed , is it to see ' men with moderate wages saving , and ' men with large wages extravagant , that many ' persons have come to the conclusion that high wages prove a curse more than a blessing . The curse , however , is brought on the ' workmen entirely by themselves . .... ; . ' .
Now , sir , u Iacquiesced in this sweeping charge , and absurd and ridiculous conclusion , that high wages was rather a curse thanablessing , we must infer as k matter of course-rthat is , if vice is not hereditary and the exclusive patrimony ; ' of the workihgclasses-r that large fortunes also . are a curse rather thana blessing , and your reasoning would fully justify a recourse to " equal distribution . " . Then , as to the evil , sir , you adniit it ; and that the people themselves are the only parties likely to correct , it ; must be inferred , for this grievance does not come in to that category of evils to which ; you ' . -would apply'any legal remedy ; and , sir , to , deal with this surplus , and to make it available to national purposes , instead of to the interests , of masters , is now the grand and
allabsorbing consideratioh with the working classes themselves , , And hence you find all those sectional ' and mere class , questions , to whicli the . cohgideratipn of the trades were confined , giving way to the more sweeping combination by which they hope unitedly to master the evil .. _ , The surplus ; of each , craft is how pressing hardly upon , the employed of its class ; and the very moment that the . privations of that surplus , becoming daily augmented , are insufferable , then , sir , will all the sections of Labour combine in one general struggle . ' . against their oppressors . This is the great tendency , of the age , sir ; but the rules of your mill having denied me the right toconfederatc for protection of my labour , I am not acquainted
with the . details of combination ; the next branch of the subject to be argued , and as old Robin has been a leading man in all trades' movements , perhaps you will have no objection to hear what he has to say upon the general principle ? ' ¦ _ omith . —No , upon my honour , Jackson , I have not the slightest objection to hear old Robin , for , as I said before , ! think-we ought to hear both sidesof the question , and I really do see no goodorsufficientreaaon why the working classes should not combine , to keep up wages as well as the masters to keep up profits ; especially when I ; remember reading in Chambers ' Journal , of . 1833 , that it was the opinion of the Messrs . Chambers , " that it was kot only tub
INTEREST OF THE WORKING MEH TO COMBINB , BUT T 1 IAT IT IB A NATIONAL ADVANTAGE TO , DO SO . " / , . Jackson . —Good God , sir , you don't mean to say that those were Chambers ' words ? - Smith . —Yes , but indeed I do , for the conversation that I have had with you and old Robin led me to a closer investigation of those matters , and 1 have been since reading many admirable tracts in Chambers ' Journal upon the rights of labour , and the . duty of the working men to combine . Jackson . —Well , sir , you do . astonish me . But it ' s
only another instanceof the many enemies that the people have to . contend with . They nourish many vipers in their breast to sting them , and , in spite of past warning , they still go on , giving power and influence to their greatest foes , and look coldly and suspiciously upon their best friends . . Smith . —Well , Jackson , I presume you have now closed your observations upon machinery , and I snail be glad to see Robin whenever the old man can toddle up to " Shoddy Hall , ' - or I'll send ; my gig for him if he should think it too far to walk .
Jackson . —Thank you , sir . And now , as the thread of our dialogue has been somewhat broken , 1 beg to submit a summary of my objections to machinery . Firstly , the application of inanimate power to tho production of the staple commodities of a countiy must inevitably depreciate the value of manual labour , and every depreciation of the value of man ' s labour iu an equal degree lowers tho working man in the scale of society , as well as in his own esteem : thus making him a mere passive instrument , subservient to any laws that the money classes may choose to inflict , to any rules the owners may impose , and satisfied with a comparative state of existence , I object to
The Qhambers' Philosophy Refuted. Labour...
machinery , because , without reference to the great questions of demand and supply , the masters can play with unconscious labour as they please , and always deal themselves the trumps . I object to machinery ; because it ' may be multipkedto an extent whereby manualkbour ' -may- be-wnderedialtogether valueless . I object to machinery , because , under its existing operation you admit the necessity of emigration , better ventilation , education , improved morality , manners , habitsi md ' custoaiBebf the working . cesses , thereby showing that a state ' of reckkssnesS ) ignorance , ' want , and depravity : . easts ; which , as 1 before said , yon admit to be consequences of the present system . I object to machinery for this reason : Mr . Grab , in Devil ' s Dust , . employs ; 4 , 000 hands , and m 1 S 4 Iafter two bad marketshe reduced the hands
, , upon ah average three shillings a week each ; and since then he has cbmelower . ' And now observe , sir , the reduction that this one master had the power to make , ' and that the hands had no . power to resist , gave him an aimuC . sum of £ 31 , 200 ; without inference to any other speculation . ; and foivthe three last years has given him £ 93 , 600—a sum out of which those from whom' it was plundered might have lived comfortably through . the present distress .:.. All are alike ; and if all do riot employ 4 , 000 men , and cannot have an equal amount of profit upon individual , filching , each set of hands ' has its tyrant to deal with , and equally suffers from the infliction . I object to machinery from the injustice that : it imposes even upon vou , sir , in your present state . ;
Smith . —Uponnie , Jackson ! Mow—now—now can machinery affect mo now ? ' , Jackson .-Why , sir , Grab / and the others that have squeezed the life ' s blood out of the poor , and that have coihcdinfante ' sweatand maiTOwintogold . nowtelltliem to go to the land for support , and to look to the poorrateS'fof subsistence . I object to machinery , because it leads to commercial tariffs and regulations in all the countries of the world , which . affect thes price ot my labour , and over which I haye no ' c ^ ronl ; - ^ object to machinery , because , although , it ^ cheapens produce , it cheapens labour so much more , . that ! am less able with my earnings to buy the cheapened produce . I object to machinery , becaiiaj , whileieach-mprovement diminishes the value ofmy 1 ^ the
, national debt , for the payment of which that labour is nawned increases in ah inverse ratio ; for : every snu-EgtefenoF my wages ! hav ^ two additionalto pay iniupportof this' burthen : 1 . . object to machinery , because it prostitutes man , and displaces him from that exalted situation ' which natoe . designed him to occupy .. Instead of being , the controller of hishousckold and the support of his wife and family , he is as lumber in the corner , , dependent upon the labour of his wife . Instead of supporting his family when he s unemployed , the bit he eats froni the scanty meal of the children is jn-udged him , and from despair he
either betakes himself to dissipation , which prematurely hurries him to the crave , or , tired of existence , comniits a crime to avoid the workhouse , which expatriates huh - ' from his country . I object to machinery , because it has made nne of my children a dwarf " and another a cripple . I object to machinery , because it subverts all the rules of nature and nature ' s God . With a seemly and frugal life , the number of years promised to hie is three score and ten , and how old would you take me to be , Mr . Smith ? , Smith . —Why perhaps turned of fifty , or handy on towards sixty : I ' m fifty myself , and you look some years older .
Jackson . —Ah , sir , I am not yet thirty-four . I commenced with you at nineteen ; so you see , sir , what ravages that hard labour , which you tell ino is nothing to , the toil of fox-hunting , has made upon mc ; while all that " mental anxiety" of which you complain still leaves you tho gait and appearance of manhood , aye , and even the blush " of youth . I object to lmir chinery , because overlookers render themselves the more acceptable to their employers by tyranny , coercion , lying , slander , hypocrisy , cruelty , " fines , " ' . ' batings , " stoppages , and plunder of every sort . Smith . —Yes , yes , Jackson , I do remember—I well remember , that Squint was always the first to recommend a reduction , and always appeared most happy . when the fines , and batements , and stoppages were largest .
: Jackson . —I object to machinery , because I find that each " extension" leads to increased reduction ; and because the cheaper the produce of my own labour becomes , the more difficult 1 find it to purchase . I object to machinerj ' , because I cannot calculate upon any certainty , even of , existence , from day to day . I object to machinery , because , while in employment I may bo induced to rent a house upon the supposition that that employment will continue , and because , while out of work , I am obliged to pay the same rent that I compounded to pay out of constant employment . . 1 object to machinery , _ bccau . se it huddles thousands and tens of thousands into large and filthytowns and cities , where temptation is ever in the way of youth , and dissipation the only resource of the
unwilling idler . I object to machinery , because it has made character of no value ; because I am surrounded by an unhealthy atmosphere ; because I never see a . green field—because I never see a tree , or hear a bird singing on its branches . , I object to machinery , because it compels me to live from hand to mouth , thought of preserving a wretched existence for another hour of misery absorbing all other considerations . I [ object to machinery , because , after a hard week ' s incessant toil , my poor wife is compelled to bustle her way through the . market , thronged with slaves , to ; buy the refuse provisions that have been pawed through the day by her betters , who had the first of the market , out of her sweat . I object to machiner y , because , when my children have come
home blistered and ; smarting from the stripes ofthe overlooker ' s knout , I have gnashed my teeth in spite , and cherished a father ' s vengeance in my breast , while the dread of starvation baulked me of a righteous satisfaction . I object to machinery , because I would like to-reverence and adore my God ,, to love my neighbour , to honour and obey the laws , and all who are appointed to execute them ; but my ragged condition forbids me to enter the house of God ; my neighbour sees in me a competitor in the labour market , and looks upon me as an enemy ; the laws crush me , and those who are appointed to execute them punish me if I complain . I object to machinery , because its never-varying motion , with which I am compelled to keep pace , enforces a monotony of labour destructive of strength , injurious to health , and blunting to the faculties of man . I object to machinery , because it is man ' s curse , while I would hail it as a blessing if
it was made man's holiday , b y lessening that toil for which it has become the substitute , without depriving me of the means of existence . I-think , sir , I'have now accounted for'female ignorance of domestic duties ; for the want of early training and after education ; for dissipation ^ dissatisfaction / immorality ; and discontent ; for the existence of labour combinations ; for early marriages ; tho necessity of emigration ; better ventilation ; poor-houses , increased poor-rates , increased police force , increased taxation ; and increasing hostility between the' classes that rule and riot , and those that are ruled and starve . \ '' - " Smith . —Upon my honour ybii have , Jackson ; and you have placed the matter'ih a light that I never saw it in before . Good bye , _ Jackson . , ' Perhaps this trifle may increase your Christmas cheer , and ! shall expect to see you and Robin at twelve to-morrow ; - ,
Jackson . —I thank you , sir , and we'll be with you Good morning , sir . .-.-:.- ¦ . ( To he continued . ) ,
Mgncultttve Anu ^Horticulture
mgncultttve anu ^ Horticulture
The Rotation Ov Crops.—All Crops Exhaust...
The Rotation ov Crops . —All crops exhaust a soil , and the whole art of manuring is , to return the ingredients and restore the soil to its fertility , whereby the same crops can be again grown . And if , as Bous-Bingault has well written , we could procure an unlimited supply of manure and labour cheap , there would be no necessity for following out any system of rotation—there would be no fear of want of manureand the business of the farmer would be to calculate the probable value of his harvest against the expense of manure and labour . This is exactly what takes place in gardening , but on large . farms it lias been found that too large crops cannot be raised off ground without the outlay : more than counterbalancing it . It has been found necessary , then , to adopt some
regular system , and instead of additional manure to alter the crop each year , and this system has been called the "Rotation of Crops . " On the . model farm of Glasanevih , under the Commissioners of National Education , and superintended by the intelligent agriculturist , Mr . Skuling , two systems of rotation are followed . The four-crop system consists c | 19 acres laid down in fields of 4 acres 3 roods , each . The fivecrop rotation consists of 30 acres in fields of 6 acres each . It is laid down in these two systems to show the pupils the practical working of . both systems ; were it not so , the whole would oe laid down in the five-crop rotation . The crops raised by the fourcourse shift are—1 st year , Mangold wurtzel , turnips , ijc . 2 nd .. Oats .
3 rd „ Artificial grasses , ryegrass , and clover . ith „ Wheat . The five-crop rotation is as follows ;—1 st year , Potatoes , turnips , mangold wnrtzel , die . 2 nd „ Oats . 3 rd „ Grass pasture , some reserved for hay . 4 th „ Italian and perennial rye grass and clover . 5 th „ Wheat or barley . This is well suited for light soils , and well adapted for raising food for cattle ; the four-crop shift is better suited for strong , heavy soUs , able to bear much cultivation . The throe-crop shift is what is adapted for small farms close by a market-town , inasmuch , as more cattle can be kept on the same quantity of land than by any other rotation , there being two green crops and one grain crop , viz : — 1 st year , Potatoes and turnips .
2 nd „ Wheat and barley sown down with grass . 3 rd „ Cutting grass . The whole ' art of adopting a good system of rotation depends upon suiting the crops to the nature of the soils , and varying them with each other , so that while tho greatest amount of produce is raised off the ground , still that the soil shall not suffer to an undue extent . Thus , after cropping corn off a soil , a quan-
The Rotation Ov Crops.—All Crops Exhaust...
tity of phosphates and nitrogen has been attracted returning the straw in the shape of dung restores the SKStracted , while tlie nitrogen may be returned by g ^ S green crops ; and . these additions can be mX while a crop of food , is actually being taken from-the-same soU ,- thus-saving-theJoS E ^ nsin ^ from rn ^ eaf &\\ o ^ . --Antkell ' sAgricultural Chemtstry . _ Carrots sown with Oats .-I have'a field which , threeyears since , was so wctthatjt ™ : <* f $ g fi , of little value ; I . had it drained an < Haid ^ down , ploughing In a mixture of lime , bog-stuff , and salt , [ tyifldelafair crtm . - . of hay / the second yeai ^ and last year , not considering itsufficicntl y drained , and not liking the . grass unit , I determined on again breakmg it upt arid late : in the , season ( say . February ) I Md it weU tamed and subaoiled in addition eighteen inches deep , done first by taking off eight inches in breadth with . the commonplough , , l 1 1 I l . iili -- h » been abstracted ;
^ having men Mowing with the spade , who threw up the . subsoih . so as to coverwhat , the plough turned My neighbourstook tlie liberty of predicting that . it would not produce me a / crop of oate ; nevcrthcfcss , without tother ploughing , I sowed ' it with black oats , at the rate of sixteen stones to the . acre and in a few perches of it L sowed carrot ; seed ( red and white ) through the . oats ; on the part where , the carrot seed was ; sown I threw a few loads of hmc matter from the gas works ; the whole was ] put mat the same time under the barrow , and rolled . Isow for the results . I had a good crop of oats on the whole field , wliich was reaped m , Aug ^» nda " tliB field . Save where nine perches of . . carrots grew ,
was bloufrhed up , got a good liming , was sown . wiin SffiS ^ lSuBp & ih * which . are now ^ doing well ; and last week I bad sixty-su : stonesuf carrots due out of the nine , perches ; . weighed without the tops / I can readily eet Sd . per stone for the carrots , which make the produce ....... < U 7 0 One man five days digging them out , 4 s . 2 d . ; , - but allow half the . expense for having the ground so well dug , 2 s . id . I put the tops ofthe carrots against the labour of a woman cutting them off ; sO the r : \ pcnse willbe , for seed l } d . per lb £ 0 3 0 Labour 0 2 1 0 5 1
. £ 1 2 ' 5 : Put £ 20 per acre , besides the oats . Make what use you please of this information . \ P . S . —Since writing the above , I recollect that I put about 120 gallons of liquid manure on the carrots after the oats wore cut : — -J . R . —Farmers' Gazette . Extuaormjiaiiy Wheat ¦ Ckops . —A correspondent of the Norwich Mercury communicates the following account of some extraordinary crops of wheat : — " The land ( under five acres ) lies in Haddisburgh , contiguous to a homestead belonging to G . Wilkinson , North Walsham , whose intelligent steward , Duckcr , took the greatest- possible pains to ascertain the exact quantity producecf , and also the exact measurement of the field , to obviate any doubt as to the perversion of
truth ,. ItwasiSpalding wheat , and the product one hundred and ten coombs two bushels , being nearly twenty-two coombs ( a coomb is four bushels ) anda half per acre . Such a productive crop has never been produced from any given quantity of land within the memory ofthe oldest Norfolk agriculturist , and many years may elapse before a similar instance can be recorded ; The cast of wheat , in this neighbourhood generally , the product of this year , is really excellent . Mr . R ; Cully , Bacton , has some land which produced seventeen coombs per acre , and land in this and the adjoining village of Wilton , belonging to Lord Wodehouse , which generally produces eight or nine coombs , and last year only from five or seven , has this year produced twelve coombs per acre .: The cast and
quantity of the barley , which was considered likely to havebeen extremely indifferent , has proved quite tho contrary . " Lime . —Lime , whether quick or carbonated , acts in a two-fold capacity , mechanically and chemically . Much of the advantage derived from its application to clayey soils is due to its physical property of lessee ing the tenacity and increasing the porosity of the original soil : so , also , by applying marl to sandy . soils , it serves to bind them more together , and make them more retentive of moisture . It is inthis way said to be cooling to hot lands ; but if fresh lime be wished to bo applied to sandy lands , it is well to mix it previously with a little clay , lest , when the soil is any way wet , it would combine with itssand , and form a gritty mortar , rendering it difficult to be worked . This mechanical effect is well obtained when the form in which the lime is applied is either calcareous sand , gravel , or-shell ; these last , on stiff land , open and
loosen the clods , and allow the young roots to shoot their-radicles in every direction . Where a soil is destitute of calcareous ingredients , lime acts beneficially by becoming one of its earthy components ; to soils , however , which are nearly or entirely destructive of vegetable matter , it is absolutely injurious , and it is in this way its application to over-wrought soils that we explain its hurtful effects on some lands ! The chemical effects of lime arc various , and are chiefly exerted on the organic matters contained in the soil ; when ! in the caustic state it is destructive of animal and vegetable life , hence its utility as an application . When weeds are to be got rid of , its action on dead vegetable matter is somewhat different ; in some grounds , especially those which are moist , this vegetable matter , instead of going through the regular process of decay , and ' terminating by the evolution of certain gaseous combinations , stops short-, forms a compound—a solid substance , which is quite insoluble in water . —Agricultural Chemistry .
. Coitageus Gardens . —If . tiic cottager wishes to have . a dish of Seakale towards the beginning or middle of February , now is the time to make preparation for obtaining it . . If a small quantity of leaves can be collected for the purpose of mixing with a . ' little stable dung or other litter , which will cause a gentle fermentation to take place , there will be little difficulty in effecting this object . Let the roots be covered with tolerably large' fiowcr-pots ; any old partly-broken pots or other material that will ' keep the manure off the tender shoots are suitable for the purpose . On these shake a sufficient depth of fermenting material to raise a heat of from , fifty degrees to sixty degrees . ¦ ; The heat may be less , but should not exceed sixty degrees , or tho stems will be weakly
drawn . In the same manner Rhubarb may also be produced early ; but in the case of the . ' cottager possessing a warm dark room or cellar , where potted roots can be p laced , Rhubarb may be produced with greater certainty , and with less trouble . At- this season , under the constantly varying weather , little can be done in the garden . ' ¦ In light 'dry . soils , however a smaU sowing of the early-frame Pea may be made ; they will come in a little earlier than those sown in spring . Raspberries and all lands of fruittrees , may now be pruned : With regard to the former , wliich produce their fruit entirely on the previous year ' s wood , the old shoots ; should be removed , and four or five of the strongest of the young ones tied up in'their plants , cutting clean off by the root all
the rest ot the young shoots . After they are tied up to the stakes , . shorten them to four feet in height . In exposed situations , a good way of training Raspberries is to tie the points of one-half of the shoots on the stools respectively with each other , thus forming arches , which have ratlier a neat appearance . Those cottagers who-possess a frame , containing a few choice plants , should keep a sharp look-out for insecta ; for in winter , the plants being comparatively inactive ; cannot readily put' forth fresh leaves to compensate for' all destroyed . Keep every thing inside the frame as ; ' dry ' as passible , and give air every day when not too cold . Carnations do not require much water at' this season especially if the soil in which they are wintered is of a rather close texture : —Auriculas . ' Take care that these plants get no drip , ' and that the covering , '' whether glass or prepared calico , is perfectl y watertight . —Pansies . Those ; wintered in soil of too rich a
nature have suffered most . These , with late planted ones , have sustained a severe check . Pansies in order to stand the severity ofthe weather , with little or no covering , ought not to be of too gross a habit Look over the seedling beds , as the roots of many will be thrown out by the frost ; the ,. * must be very carefully replanted . —' Mips will now : each succeeding week be getting nearer to the surface ; some slicht protection willbe necessary where they are grown for exhibition , in order to prevent all possibility ofiniury to the embryo bloom . Hoops over the beds ^ on which mats may lie thrown , will be sufficient . Where the roots are not of so much consequence a few leaves will prove equally efficacious . —Pinks may be sheltered with small pieces of Spruce Fir-boughs stuck round the beds . In snowy weather rabbits and haves devour them with avidity where they happen to be exposed to their depredations . . Continue to turn over and make composts at every opportunity . '
-^—^M Mxaakam. Ma≪Uj Stieuce Anu Art
- ^—^ m mxaaKam . Ma < uj Stieuce anu art
, Institute Or The Fine Arts.—On Saturda...
, Institute or the Fine Arts . —On Saturday evening last the first general meeting for the . present season ofthe members of the Institute was held in < i ° ^ V"oom ° , f tIie Sodcty of Artaln the Adelnhi . *?" ¦ t £ E ^ tone , who presided , explained the objects ot the meeting to a numerous assemblage of artists and others , and described the advantages Kkclv to bei derived to the fine arts of the country , and to artists from the formation of the Institute . Since tlieir last meeting it had been . determined by the council that for thc future ladies should be admissible to the meetings . By allowing- ladies to participate in the instruction afforded . it had been thought that the advancement of
the fine arts would be promoted and the councd ; had resolved that every member should have thc privilege of introducing a ladv at eaclr meeting ( Hear . ) The minutes of the ' last meeting were then read by Mr . Fahey , the honorary secretary Eighty-iune members had been admitted since the last meeting , making the present number of members 376 . Mr . Foggo then read a paper in * Z i ™ Tf i £ s of ?* r- Hallam , in tile Third Report of the Royal Commission ^ Fine Arts , on the selection of subjects for the decoration of the new Houses of Parliament ; and Mr . Fahey afterwards read the address ofthe council , from which it to pcared that the success of the exertions ofthe Institute m extricating art unions from the difficulties
, Institute Or The Fine Arts.—On Saturda...
under whicli they had been placed , and procuring legislative enactments for their protection , had been approved by the great body of artists throughout the kingdom . The Institute was now forming a library , and many works of art had already been presented . The prize of £ 20 for the best essay on history , litera ' turefandffescnt state of tKe"fine arts in ' Great Bri , tain , had been awarded to Mr . . George Foggo . Peti . tions had been , presented to " , Parliament for . the formation of a national gaUery of casts from the beat ; . r . . ^ nlnnf nnd Vrindorn sniilntiirA nnA u undei ^«^ JJ » V ™* *
was hoped the prayer of them ^ ould . be granted i ) y the Legislature . ' Mr ; Buss read a paper , on . thc i m . portance of building capacious studios for artists , in wliich great works could be executed ; a college fot such purposes might be built with good effect in the neighbourhood of Belpwe-sqiiarc ; , and Mr . Stanley read a paper on the state , of the arts at Munich . £ resolution expressing tho satisfaction of the meetin * at the conduct . of the council , and , one of thanks to the chairman , having been passed , the company sspa , rated at half-past ten o'clock . ,
- Remarkable Operation for the Guru , of Cos . sumption . —The Medical , Gazette contains a long article from the pens of Dr . Hastings and Mr . Robert Storks , surgeons , descriptive of a . remarkable opera . tion for the curC ; of consumption , by the perforation of the cavity of the lung through the-walls ' , of the chest . It consists in making an opening between the ribs into the cavity which forms in the lung during the latter stages of consumption . The immediate effects of the operation ( which requires only a few seconds in its performance , and which causes but slight pain ) in the case in question was the diniiiiu . tion of the frequency of the patient ' s pulse , which fell in twenty-four hours from 120 to 68 ; freedom of respiration , which had been a very distressing symp . torn ; loss of cough and expectoration , both of w hich
had been very severe ' . This operation , which hag established the possibility of curing this hitherto fatal disease , appears to havo been completely successful ; the report of the condition of the patient a month after its performance being , that he was rapidl y regaining his flesh and strength , whilst his respiration had become natural , his pulse had fallen to 80 , aw . his cough and expectoration had wholly ceased . Potass and Soda contained in Sea Water . —M , Balford states that , by processes discovered- by him , and now employed in the south of France , he could , notwithstanding the contrary opinion announced by Murray and Wollaston , obtain from sea-water an indefinite quantity of sulphate of soda , and enough potass for all commercial wants . Further , that if the
efforts he is now making be crowned with success , the quantity of sulp hur obtained from the oxi-sulphuret of calcium , hitherto rejected as useless , will , perhaps , be sufficient to supplant the solfataras of Italy . —Medical Times . - ; ,: Compressed Air Locomotive . —M . Andraudis the first person who proposed to substitute compressed air for steam , for the purpose of traction on railways ; he is also the first who put in practice , on an extensive scale , the hew dynamic principle , of which he is the promoter . ' He related on a late occasion the curious experiments wliich ho made with an air locomotive of strong dimensions—experiments which have demonstrated the fact , that the problem was completely resolved , at least in a technical point of view ; for it is only by means of a very extensive experiment
that we can know what is to be expected from the employment of air locomotives in a commercial sense . However , this is well known—viz ., that these sort of locomotives cannot work profitabl y but by the employment of compressed air at a very high degreesay , from eig hteen to twenty atmospheres . M . Andraud has just completed his invention , by the discovery ofthe means of only employing compressed air at very low pressures—say , 'one or two atmospheres , At one of the late sittings ofthe Academy of Sciences , Ml Arago explained , with much precision and ability , of what this new combination of the inventor consisted . ' Here , then , is no locomotive of any description . Like in the atmospheric system , a trial of which is to be made at St . Germain , there is between
the two rails a . long tube extending from one end to the other without iiitemiption ; this tube is flexible , being composed of a strong description of cloth , folded over thirty times , and rendered quite impermeable to the air by means' of a dissolution of caoutchouc , wliich forms but one body out ofthe numerous folds . This arrangement allows the motive piston outside the cylinder to work , in which the air is liberated . Now , the form of this external { . iston ( wliich constitutes the basis ' of the new invention ) is a simple lathe , composed of two rollers , pressed one against tho other by means of springs , the tension of which may be varied at will by the conductor . Let any one imagine , then , this lathe piston to be fixed at the head of the first or the last waggon of a train , and that the tube of whicli we have spoken passes between the two rollers ; it will be then evident that if we introduce compressed air at one extremity of the tube , the other extremity being open , the tube
will expand as far as that part where it is pressed by the lathe , and that this lathe being pushed like a piston , will draw with it the waggon to which it is attached , and the whole train likewise . It is also clear that the impulse will be so much stronger iu proportion as the air is the more compressed , or as the diameter of the tube is the greater . Such is the new system presented to us by M 7 Andraud—a system , as we may perceive , exempt of all mechanism , and of extreme simplicity ; this flexible tube having no kind of opening , allows none of the power to be wasted ; it will bo of an extremely trifling cost , and easy to be placed in any direction . The small model which M . Andraud has placed before the Academy has worked perfectly . It is said that the Government , who have already assisted M ^ Andraud in hU operations , will put him in a condition to continue them in a more decisive manner on a line to be provided for him as a' specimen . —Journal des Chemins de Fer . - ¦
Influence of Oxtgen on Health . — A man in "first-rate condition" from training for prizefighting , or for running , will consume much more oxygen than another man in less vigorous and florid health . And if ho be removed from the pure air in which he has been trained , to an atmosphere less salubrious , he quickly loses his activity and energy , fliey do not subside , however , sufficiently sudden to correspond with the imperfect oxygenation in bis lungs ; and that portion of food which was previously consumed dn these organs , and converted into carbonic acid and water , is now deposited in the system as fat . Hence it is that men often become corpulent by exchanging out-door occupation in the country tor sedentary employment in the town . In proportion as thcirculation
e is quickened , from whatever cause , in that proportion does a supply of oxygen become requisite . In . ardentfevei's , for instance , the anxious hasty breathing is ! a necessary consequence ofthe increased frequency of the pulse . If the air the patient breathes be impure , and the room ill-ventilated , the maladyrages with greater violence , and perhaps communicates itself by infection .: Hence the advantage of roomy apartments and fresh ah'in the treatment p i levers . I or this reason , also , fevers are more rare in the country , and are less fatal there , than in towns —in the higher , cleanlier , and less populated districts , than in those that are low , iU-ventilated , and dirty—in large and commodious hospitals , than in small ones- ^ -onland than on ship-board , & c . —Medical Times . ...
The Phbno ^ xa CoLouRiNo . ~ The colour of all organic productions appears to vary with the position those productions occupy on the earth ; foi-, whilst tlid equatoriarregions produce tints of the most opposite and beautiful-character in the vegetable Idngdom , these ^ radually degenerate in brilliancy , until approachingthe hnutsof vegetation , wherethe most prevailing colour is that of white . Not only arc flowcra thus acted upon by climate , but birds and animals , incliisiveof man himself , are almost equally influenced by the geographical position they occupy . —Media '"'"'''''^ ''^^^ ''' ¦ ¦ ' ¦ ' ¦"" sr + sts + n 10
ni ^ " ^ . ? - ^ - ^^ Picavd . who had licca condemned to thirteen months' imprisonment bv the ^ f ?? V , rr V b i l vY h sentence had undergone atthe DepOt des Condamnes , yesterday ( Fridav week ) finished his time , and his order of liberation was signed . At the moment of his departure he ofhciously offered to the overseer of workshops to cany to the cart belonging to the contractor for tlie work a large sack which was filled with finished goods . He got into the : cart , where the sack was deposited bv him at the bottom of the vehicle , which proceeded oh rtl p , J- V ™ scarcely arrived in the middle of the Rue de la Roquette , when , to the peat surprise ot the guardians conducting it , and who had also taken then- placesan the carriage , the sack , of goods began to make strange movements-an arm wassooa
vfmSZ Z ,, -fl V ' thcn a head and the conductor ? SS 3 u li " fied ° ? . > w » gni 8 ing an individual conpS J 2 1 vf * P ri 80 nment , and who had renS ^^ rr ^ 9011 * f . Alette to fulfil ii , ? STS *" i . ^ ^ mado " * agreement wth iool A ha S *? ^ in thc sack ingtead ofthe Sft . k « ? had hoped to be fortunate enouih t « escape by this singular retreat without being perceived when a sensation of suffocation had breed aim to show . ihimself so opportunely . The ff ^ ntlc-E <*™ % tely mt Wk toWotSh r Iicard hadlikcwisctoreturn . - (? a ^^ rn ^ « . r lJfc ^ rV ' 1 !^ l ^ A « s—Died , on P . Iomlny l * ' ap . the patriarchal age of 108 . Mr . Morrif Thurz .
wn « a lanunen-Btreet , Exeter . The deceased , , m U > Sw ? ttT ™ $ * i enjoyed excellent ' . ealth ar . d spirits . He lived tor upwards of sixty - ears in the house in which he died , and never till 1 ^ tcly allowed SLT ^ - 80 1 ^ * - ' - Hc wasaheiial doctor , and ZZ ? Tr" # l ? ^ "gh Devon , working marvellous w " n to ™ " vocation till within thc lust two months , and such was his repute , that people applied toliim for advice , and received his nostrar * whilst onhis death bed . He was art alchymist , and ¦ n aaept m astrology ; and it seemed as if these ancient delusions lingered with him alone . —Exeter limes : ak
^ M End . —The ^ following advertisement , underthe above head , appears inthc 7 Ym « ofFri + ' * ~ nn j S 0 . vcrei ° f Europe , or their ministry . —the advertiser will engage , by menus of life own invention , to destroy or disperse thc largest armyor fleet in thc world , and will demand no remuneration till a demonstration be given . "
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Jan. 4, 1845, page 6, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/ns2_04011845/page/6/
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